


before and after

by HelmetParty



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Post-Talon Widowmaker | Amélie Lacroix, Team Talon (Overwatch), WIDOWTRACER IS ONLY HINTED AT THIS IS NOT A WIDOWTRACER FIC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-04 02:51:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14583327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelmetParty/pseuds/HelmetParty
Summary: Widowmaker was not human.





	before and after

**Author's Note:**

> rreylos on tumblr  
> feel free to talk to me / request / tell me what u think >:3c

_ Widowmaker, Amelie Lacroix... _

Amelie was not human, not anymore. Her body didn't function in the way a normal human did. Her emotions were far gone, twisted into something new, though she knew that they were there somewhere. It was better to save face and consider that she had none, because then she would be the perfect beautiful killer that she was meant to be. 

No. The killer they made her.

Widowmaker did not work for Talon, even though that's what the official print says. It doesn't matter what they think or what they said, because Talon themselves know that Widowmaker can kill or harm anyone she wants to. Because she's not human anymore. She can't remember when she ever was. She was to be an enigma forever, a ruthless killer and only that, whatever she was before was just a facade. Something in the book that was chapters ago. Except this time, Amelie Lacroix  ripped those chapters out. Whatever she was before had no intention of coming back, because dead people don't riise back for from their graves. No, Widowmaker was a killer and that was it. Talon had made her this way, although this is what she is always been since she can remember. 

There's something that begs her mind though, eggs at her when she can't sleep. That woman, that woman with the brown hair and the orange goggles, the one Talon so desperately wants dead. Doomfist had almost killed her, and if he hadn't been so careless and full of pride maybe he would have finished the job. And that's the problem with human emotion emotions, she thinks, they get in the way of producing well and good work. Amelie would not fall to human emotions, however, that annoying fast woman with the goggles with the hair all spiky would. She was sure of it.

But there's something that just continues to egg her on, garners a reaction that Widowmaker has not felt in a long time. Widowmaker ponders on this many times at night when she cannot sleep, and she wonders what is it about that woman she can't remember. She feels something but she can't put her hand on it anymore, she thought she was close to making it in words once but she lost it. That's just how it is on this bitch of an earth, she thought. So when their next fight comes around, Widowmaker is ready to fire no questions asked. She would not fall to the same orc that doomfist did, she did not have pride the way he did. If she got her job done, than that was that. Even if she had to fist fight her way through it. And God knows she could, she was one of the most experienced assassins in the world, and she didn't know just how to shoot a weapon. Her fists and her legs were particularly strong, and she was not afraid to fight. 

Her weapon scopes the battlefield and she looks for the annoying link of blue light she would hopefully see. If this had been a waste of her time, then Talon would have to hear from her personally. And she was getting a bit tired of everyone blaming her, it wasn't her fault that the Intel Talon got was false. She was about ready to blow the whole damn place up.

Amelie’s heart jumps, for the first time in a long time. That blue streak of light comes into her vision, and that was annoying goggled woman follows. Her heart beats, her skin starts to sweat, and she doesn't know exactly what the hell is going on. If she didn't know any better, or she have any intuition, she would have assumed she was dying. But no, this felt good. Just felt right.      

She aims her sniper rifle at the woman, but she's moving too fast. She would never get a shot off before she just blinked through time and ran away. And there is no way she is going down without a fight this time, no. The bitch doesn't know she's even there, this is her time to strike, like a spider inviting a fly into her web. Overwatch wouldn't even know what happened. And if there was one thing that doomfist could do, it was deal with what they called Winston. He was nothing more than a glorified gorilla. But there was no scientist in sight, only her. That tiny, annoying, fast woman. Widowmaker prepares her shot, and gets a good line of sight to where she thinks that the woman will be next. She's not going particularly fast, which she assumes is good, however she would have loved the challenge. It's almost more of child's play now, and there's something kind of sad about that fact. Something irks Widowmaker about that, and she desperately wishes that this death would be hand to hand, so that she could see the woman's dying expression on her face. 

Whatever, she thinks, she'll have plenty of time to examine the body when she takes it to Talon for her reward. Maybe then they'll fuck off and stop making her go on missions to kill one measly woman. She shakes her head, scopes and for a final time, and shoots. The bullet hits, and there is an impact noise. But no scream, no gurgle of life. Instead the woman just falls to the ground, and Widowmaker is almost surprised. That blue thing on her chest blinks a few times, then fails. It flashes red. Widowmaker takes this as a sign that whatever is on her chest is failed, malfunctioned. No more going back in time to avoid damage. She almost feels pity for the woman. Although she wouldn't exactly know how that feels, but something tells her that just reading the textbook definition is probably enough. Her heart starts to beat, even though the kill is gone, the danger is done. She feels something in her chest clang, like she had just lost an old friend, or a pet had died. Those are things she still remembers, she remembers her pet dying when she was a child, and how that felt but not exactly. She remembers her mother falling to cancer, and again she can kind of place how that feels, but not enough to know that that is what she's feeling now. She feels almost like she has made a grave mistake, that this entire time all of this has been one big lie. 

Perhaps who she had just killed was the last remnants of whatever she was before she was... This. Because now she wasn't human, but she had just killed one.

Like a spider she swings to the bottom of the building, and is able to easily find her way to the ground. She walks towards the body, and something wells in her eyes. She hasn't felt this in a long time, but even a dumbass would know what this is. She starts to cry, and her heart beats faster. She keeps herself under control, her body attempts to shake but she shakes it off instead. This is nothing more than a mission. She has no memory of this woman, even though her body is doing something that it's never done before. She approaches the body further, noticing something off, human skin is not that shiny. Immediately she senses fear, and that is something that she still knows even after everything. Widowmaker holds her gun to her chest and and looks around, examining high and low for whatever had just happened. When she suggests herself that she is in the clear, she attempts to go to the body further. And she is right. It's nothing more than an omnic placed with human like clothing. Figures, nothing would be that easy. Suddenly there's something touching her back, and Widowmaker cannot move.

A Talon agent. 

“Widowmaker,” he says, his voice deep. A gun is in his right hand. “Come with me.”

She is shocked, but she cannot fight him. He takes her arm with a firm grip, and walks her to a black car. “Get in, please,” he asks, and the door to the back is opened for her. She gets in, knowing Talon never asks twice. 

She is driven for several minutes, then several more. Widowmaker counts in her head the minutes that go by and wonders where they are taking her. It takes twenty nine minutes to get to their destination, but with the blacked out windows, Amelie cannot see. 

The door opens and the same man from before asks her to step out. She is in a large garage, however, the huge door was closed.

She knew what this was. She had remembered it.

“The boss wants to see you,” he says. “For Betterment Training.”

She knows what this is. Her body shakes.

“I’ve already done that,” she hisses. “I’ve been through this a thousand times! I’ve done  _ nothing  _ to warrant this!” 

The Talon agents around her turn to look. She is making a scene. “I’ve done nothing but do as i am told,” she hisses again, looking around her. “I want an audience with the boss, now!”

There is a sharp clash, and the Talon agents turn their heads away from the angry purple fire. “Requested and received,” a voice says. 

Its her.

The Talon agent moves out of the way as Widowmaker steps forward quickly. “Boss, I think there is a misunderstanding,” she taunts. “They are saying I am to be put back into Betterment Training, I-”

“-I authorized this,” the boss says, her long black hair flowing with pride. Her face is contorted into a smirk, and her head is held high. “We put you to the test, and while you did well, you also cried, my emotionless beauty.” Her hand touches Amelie’s face softly, and while it was comforting, Widowmaker new better.

“It won’t happen again,” she assures, her voice shaking. “It was the dust. It was nothing more than-”

A hard smack from the boss hits her face. Widowmaker winces.

“You see,” she says, “You’re feeling again. The training is wearing off, I bet you even remember your name, huh?” The boss grabs Amelie’s chin and tilts her face to meet each other. “I can’t blame you. It’s not your fault. But we cannot afford weakness, not any longer.” Two men take Widowmaker’s arms, and she struggles. She is about to break loose when a piercing shock enters her gut. One of the other guards hit her with a stun baton. 

“Fear not, Widowmaker,” the boss stands over Widowmaker. “You will be fixed, just as we did when you first arrived.” 

As her consciousness fades, Widowmaker feels nothing but regret, and the last image she sees in her mind is of that woman with the goggles and the spikey hair.

_ Amelie Lacroix was not human, not any longer. Whatever she was before was taken from her. _


End file.
